


The Music Man

by amoleofmonsters



Series: Sheith Month 2018 Fics [17]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alcohol, Alternate Universe - Rock Band, M/M, Sheith Month 2018
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-31
Updated: 2018-07-31
Packaged: 2019-06-19 03:43:39
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,711
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15501576
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/amoleofmonsters/pseuds/amoleofmonsters
Summary: Shiro is the lead singer of a small town band. Keith can't help but think he's cute.--For Sheith Month 2018. Day 23: Concert





	The Music Man

**Author's Note:**

> Follow me on tumblr at sharkrinsoup.tumblr.com!

In the center of Keith’s town, there’s an area with a small number of family-owned restaurants and pubs surrounding a tiny park. In the summer, it feels like the entire town comes out on weekend nights to listen to the live music. Keith once found the whole affair nauseating, but as he gets older, he more and more appreciates anything that can break the monotony of his day job. 

He finds himself in that very area one weekend in July. He would like to blame Lance’s annoying persistence or Pidge’s unwillingness to leave his apartment until he agreed to come with them, but it hadn’t even taken much prodding. The idea of staying home alone depresses him more than he’d like to admit and he’d really only put up a fight due to tradition. Ever since turning twenty-one, he’s realized that the best part about listening to a shitty live band was that after enough drinks, they weren’t so shitty anymore. 

They decide to occupy some outdoor seating in one of the many restaurants and Keith begins the night by ordering a gin and tonic. He predicts that the band is going to be some weird experimental nonsense (who names their band “A Robot Made of Lions” anyway?) and he knows he’s going to need as much alcohol as feasibly possible to get through the evening. The rest of the group order beer, but they’re much more optimistic about the quality of the oncoming musical performance than Keith is. At six-thirty on the dot, the first few notes of a song ring out through the square. Keith braces for impact, but as the soothing melody washes over him, he finds that the music is much less of an assault on his ears than he had expected. In fact, as the first song leads into the next one, he realizes he’s enjoying it. He finally turns to look at the band in question and his breaths stops. 

The lead singer looks like someone out of a magazine. Even through his flannel, Keith can see his tight muscles move as he pulls note after note out of the guitar in his hand. His jaw is sharp, like it could cut diamonds. His eyes are soft as he looks out at the crowd, and his black hair is cropped short save for a white tuft that drops into his eyes. He might be the most beautiful man Keith has ever seen and it takes all of his willpower not to launch himself out of the seat and run to the stage like some obsessed fan girl. 

“Could this be? Keith enjoying a weekend concert?” says Lance with a knowing look. Keith blushes but glares. 

They finish their dinner and migrate over to the bar next door. The thing about Keith’s friends is that without fail, they are the loudest people in any given room. After ordering a beer, Keith slides up next to Pidge and watches her clank shot glasses with Hunk. The both of them knock back the alcohol with a loud cheer. “Hey Keith, you look way too sober! Gotta catch up!” yells Hunk at the top of his lungs. 

“Keith? The sober one? How is that possible?” says Pidge, eyeing him over. “Are you feeling okay?” 

“I feel fine. Don’t worry, I’ll catch up.” 

Despite his best efforts, Keith does not catch up. Not used to being the sober one, he watches his friends act like absolute fools. Lance tries to get the phone number of every single girl that’s willing to talk to him and Hunk and Pidge each do a shot every time he fails. At some point, Keith orders a stronger drink and slowly nurses it by the bar. Out of the corner of his eye, he notices someone slide into the seat next to him and he thinks nothing of it until the stranger says, “Hey, what are you drinking?” 

Keith turns to look at the interrupting stranger and his eyes widen. It is none other than the gorgeous lead singer. In stereotypical Keith fashion, he forgets how to talk and squeaks out something at an inaudible level. He clears his throat and says at a much more normal pitch, “A rum and coke. Nothing special.” 

“Ah, gotcha. I’m not much of a drinker so I’m not entirely sure what to get.” 

“The beer they have on tap is decent. It’s mostly local stuff.” 

“Cool, thanks.” The man turns away from Keith to order a drink from the bar. 

“Hey, um, not to be weird, but you’re the lead singer of the band that was just playing, right?” 

The man turns back to look at Keith and grins. “Yep, that’s me. My name’s Shiro and my band’s A Robot Made of Lions! We’re you listening?” 

“I’m Keith. And yeah, I was. You guys are pretty good. Definitely the best band I’ve heard in a long time here.”

Shiro blushes. “Thanks! We just formed a couple of months ago and we’re not entirely sure what we’re doing, but I’m glad you like our stuff. It’s good to meet you, Keith. Since you kind of already know my deal, what’s yours?” 

Keith is about to speak when the bartender passes Shiro his beer. Keith catches a metallic glimmer and realizes that Shiro’s hand is a prosthetic. Keith wonders how he could have missed it during the performance; he must have been too far from the stage to pick up on it. His eyes travel back up to Shiro’s face as he takes a sip of his drink. “I don’t really have much of a deal. I’m here with some friends,” says Keith, jerking his head towards the trio of idiots doing shots in the back of the bar. 

“So why you sitting all the way over here?” 

“Usually I just get trashed to drown out the band that’s playing, but you guys weren’t bad enough for me to need to do that. Now I’m just sitting here trying to catch up and also talking to you. Why? Would you want me to go back to them?” 

Shiro pouts. “It would be a bit of a shame if you did that. Why don’t you tell me about yourself instead, Keith?” 

“Can’t say there’s much to talk about. I’m a second year aerospace engineering PhD student and every other weekend, I get stupidly drunk with my idiot friends to forget about how broke and tired I am.” 

“Aerospace engineering, huh? That was actually my major in undergrad. I wanted to be an astronaut.”

“Really? So then why music?” 

Shiro looks down sadly and Keith immediately regrets asking the question. Before Keith can take it back, Shiro smiles and lifts his metal hand up so Keith can get a better look. “I had been accepted into the program and was going through training, but I got into a really bad car accident and lost my arm. Honestly, I was lucky to have survived, but either way, they don’t let guys with only one arm up into space.” 

“Oh, god, I’m so sorry.”

Shiro shrugs. “That was three years ago. Moving on has been hard, but I’ve accepted it. There’s nothing I can do but move forward and I love playing music. It hasn’t been all bad and I guess I have a new dream, even if it’s a bit crazy.” 

“So what do you do when you’re not with the band?” 

“I work for a small electrical contractor around here. Got to use that engineering background for something, you know? It’s not the most exciting thing, but it pays the bills.” 

“That’s not so bad. I was considering doing something like that, but my friend Pidge bullied me into trying for the PhD. Some days I thank her and other days I feel like I want to kill her for convincing me.” 

Shiro shrugs. “Well, if you’re passionate about what you’re doing, then I think a PhD is great. You’ll be able to get a lot of really cool, upper level positions when it’s over.” Shiro reaches into his pocket and pulls out his cell phone. “So, from one aerospace engineering guy to another, can I get your number?” 

Keith feels his face heat up, but he centers himself. “Yeah, absolutely.” He takes Shiro’s phone from his hand and types in his number. He sends himself a quick message before giving it back to Shiro. 

Shiro grins and pockets his phone. “Great, thanks! So, I’m sure you’re really busy, but could I see you again some time soon?” 

“Uh, yeah, I can probably do dinner or something over the week. It can’t be for long, but it’s the summer so I don’t really have classes.”

“Awesome! And if time is an issue, I’d be more than happy to make you dinner at my place.”

“Uhhh...” 

“Oh god, wait, you’re not gay! I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have assumed!” Shiro practically falls off of the bar stool in embarrassment, but Keith drops his hand onto Shiro’s forearm to stop him from sprinting away. 

“No, no, I am definitely gay. You don’t have to worry about that. Dinner sounds amazing! I just don’t want to be an inconvenience!” Keith rushes to get the words out, relief flooding him. “I’m just super used to the cute strangers I meet not being gay. Especially in this town.”

Shiro’s entire face lights up at that. “You think I’m cute?” 

Keith blushes and plays with a lock of his hair. “I mean, I sat here and talked to you instead of going back to my friends. Obviously, I think you’re cute.” 

Shiro grins. “You’re cute, too.” He looks around and then leans in close to Keith. “Would it be too forward for me to ask if I could kiss you?” 

“Absolutely not. Kiss away.” Keith leans in and presses his mouth to Shiro’s. His mouth tastes like hops and something sweet, maybe bubblegum? They kiss for a moment, taking each other in, but all too soon Shiro is pulling away. Keith leans further against the bar to catch his breath and stares up at Shiro who has a giant smile on his face and a soft blush on his cheeks. 

Yeah, Keith was definitely excited for dinner.


End file.
